March 30th, 2008
One of the first rules of marketing is to understand as much as you can about who you’re trying to market to. The clearer picture you have of your target consumer, the better you can position your product to meet their needs.
In the case of commercial or social marketing, the target consumers are other people. But in personal marketing, the target is you. This difference has the potential to give you a huge advantage. While others must be content with grouping people into “market segments” with similar characteristics, you have the luxury of communicating to a demographic of only one person…a person you know very well!
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March 24th, 2008
If there were truly ads on the moon it would mean there is no place on earth - not a single one - that is free of marketing messages. But consider how close that is to being true already. From the time we wake up in the morning until we fall asleep again at night most of us are almost constantly exposed to marketing messages of one kind or another.
Because ads are almost anywhere, each vendor must try to find a way to stand out and get your attention. They call it breaking through the clutter. One way to do that is to put their messages in unexpected places. Like the moon.
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March 16th, 2008
After taking a marketing class winter quarter I’m more convinced than ever that it’s where the action is when it comes to understanding and changing human behavior, and therefore those of us who are motivated to grow can benefit greatly from learning about its fundamental techniques.
Marketing includes deciding exactly what you’re selling, honestly assessing your strengths and weaknesses, sizing up the competition, learning as much as you can about your consumer, and strategizing about how to position your product to appeal to him. It includes deciding how to manipulate the four classic variables over which you have control: Product, Price, Place and Promotion. Promotion, in turn, is divided into many possible persuasive activities, one of which is advertising. Other elements of a “promotional mix” can include direct marketing, interactive marketing, sales promotions, public relations and personal selling. In other words, advertising is just one tool in what is often a carefully planned and well-orchestrated campaign to convince you to do something.
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March 10th, 2008
The reward centers of your brain seem to be stimulated by anticipating a benefit in a way that’s very similar to actually receiving it. The implication for marketing is that you can create a very rewarding experience for your consumer - you - by helping yourself to vividly imagine how good the outcomes of a behavior are going to be. The idea is that stimulating the reward center in your brain will create positive associations about the target behavior. By advertising the benefits to yourself it may be possible to begin collecting positive, rewarding experiences about a behavior before you even begin to do it!
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March 3rd, 2008
Here’s a quick and easy ad hack for Windows Mobile users: write a text message on your Owner Information screen, and set it to display every time you turn the device on. It’s a great place to display a goal or affirmation that you really want to keep in your awareness for a couple of days.
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